Sugarcane stalks grow to between 2 and 6 metres tall. These stalks contain sugar, which is used to sweeten food and drinks. After the sugar has been taken out the remains of the stalks can be burned to generate heat and electricity. It can also be made into paper, cardboard and cutlery. This crop requires high temperature and high rainfall. In areas of low rainfall this crop is cultivated with the help of irrigation. Black soil or alluvial soil is the best for this crop. Sugarcane requires a large amount of water. That is why holding deep soil is required. As this crop absorbs nutrient matter from the soil, compost manure and chemical fertilizers are used.

Images for kids

Saccharum officinarum

The westward diffusion of sugarcane in pre-Islamic times (shown in red), in the medieval Muslim world (green), and by Europeans in the 15th century (islands circled by violet lines)

A 19th-century lithograph by Theodore Bray showing a sugarcane plantation: On the right is the "white officer", the European overseer. Slave workers toil during the harvest. To the left is a flat-bottomed vessel for cane transportation.